Thursday, December 13, 2012

Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) is perhaps most infamous for his stated fear that the island of Guam could become so populated that it might tip over and "capsize". During the race-baiting circus in the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting, Johnson said that Martin was shot for "WWB in a GC" (Walking while black in a gated community).

Johnson's latest foray into the absurd involves a bit of a confession. You see, in addition to finding the "N" word offensive, Johnson apologized for using the "M" word.

What's the "M" word you might ask?

"Midget". The only reason we know is because Hank let it slip. Does that mean he should resign?

There is a question I am dying to ask this guy:

How many midgets M-words would it take on the island of Guam to cause it to capsize?

How in the world can conservatives expect House leadership to fight the Obama administration when it employs the same tactics? The House 'Purge list' that has served to widen the chasm between the establishment and conservative wings of the Republican Party continues to be hidden from view by House leadership.

Breitbart's Matthew Boyle reported that the alleged author of the list - House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy - agreed to meet with the Republican Study Committee (RSC) to provide some clarity and transparency. However, something apparently came up and McCarthy did not attend the meeting.

House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy blew off a scheduled meeting with the conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC) on Wednesday. At the meeting, McCarthy was going to explain the secret criteria list, including a voting scorecard, that he created for House Speaker John Boehner to use in his purge of conservatives from influential House committees.

A source familiar with the situation told Breitbart News that McCarthy backed out of the meeting at the last minute – after having agreed to it last week. “Congressman McCarthy did agree last week to attend today’s RSC meeting to discuss the issue of the four members removed from their committees,” the source told Breitbart News. “Citing the need to attend to a family matter, he did not end up making it to the meeting.”

Roll Call and POLITICO both have articles that point to what could be a new narrative developing as to the reason for the jettisoning of the four conservative House members from their committees - that the men were booted because the were "A-holes" who publicly criticize House leaders. In either case, the stonewalling that has come from House leadership only serves to raise more questions and exacerbate tensions.

For example, there seems to be some inconsistencies with respect to McCarthy's absence from the RSC meeting.

Rep. Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, who was booted from a coveted spot on the House Budget Committee and also lost his position on the Agriculture Committee, told reporters that McCarthy was going to address the group. RSC Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio told the group the whip would be there to explain whether a secret vote scorecard had been used to weigh whether to kick members off committees. But a GOP leadership aide said McCarthy was never scheduled to attend.

That led to Jordan telling the group that McCarthy had, in fact, bailed out at the last minute to tend to a family emergency, said Rep. John Fleming of Louisiana, who was at the meeting.

“That was the announcement Jim made, that [McCarthy] was going to be here to tell us whether or not there was scorecard and what it meant if there is one and then some things came up at the last minute,” he said. “My understanding is a family matter came up and he’s leaving to go back home.”

McCarthy was still in town when the House voted, hours after the RSC meeting.

So, did McCarthy miss the meeting because he wasn't scheduled to be there or because of a family emergency? While we're at it, were the four conservative members booted from their committees because of their votes or because they were "A-holes"?

The parallels between Operation Fast and Furious and the 9/11/12 attack in Benghazi continue to mount. The latest example comes courtesy of Kerry Picket. She is reporting that Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who serves on the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees, says the State Department is not allowing him to talk to any of the survivors of the Benghazi attack.

Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R- UT) told Breitbart News on Wednesday that he has been “thwarted” by the State Department from seeing any Americans who survived the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi. Many people forget that there were Americans who survived the Benghazi attack, some of whom were badly injured and are still recovering.

“My understanding is that we still have some people in the hospital. I’d like to visit with them and wish them nothing but the best but the State Department has seen it unfit for me to know who those people are—or even how many there are,” Rep. Chaffetz said. I don’t know who they are. I don’t know where they live. I don’t know what state they’re from. I don’t even know how many there are. It doesn’t seem right to me.

So, how is this reminiscent of how the Fast and Furious investigation was handled?

Consider the names Kevin O'Reilly and William Newell. When the DOJ / ATF - led Operation Fast and Furious was at its peak, there were communications between Newell and O'Reilly, who at the time was Director of North American Affairs with the National Security Council (the White House). If one ATF employee could be placed at the center of Fast and Furious, Newell might be that guy.

Here is a very compelling exchange between Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) and Newell from July 26, 2011 in which Gowdy confronts the former SAC about an email between O'Reilly and Newell. Shortly after this exchange, O'Reilly was transferred to Iraq to work as a State Department employee:

Obviously, after O'Reilly's name was brought into the Fast and Furious scandal, Oversight Committee chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) wanted to talk to him. Here is an exchange between Issa and Fox News Channel's Bret Baier a couple of months after the July 26th hearing:

More than one year later, O'Reilly returned from Iraq to work at the State Department.

Obama administration employee Kevin O’Reilly -- who congressional investigators called “the link connecting the White House to the [Fast and Furious] scandal” -- is back in the United States now after abruptly leaving his White House job to work in Iraq in 2011 after emails concerning him and Fast and Furious had surfaced.

O'Reilly left the United States in August 2011, shortly after his knowledge of the gun-walking program was publicized during a congressional hearing on July 26.

O’Reilly has so far refused to cooperate with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which recently threatened to subpoena him. He also refused to cooperate with the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General, which investigated the program and recently released its findings.

Both the House committee and the Inspector General's office sought to interview O'Reilly about Fast and Furious but the White House refused to grant him permission to be interviewed.

Another curious bit of timing involved the release of the DOJ's Inspector General report just weeks before O'Reilly's return from Iraq, meaning that O'Reilly left for Iraq shortly after he became a person of interest for the Oversight Committee and returned shortly after the DOJ IG issued its final report. Despite this, the White House said that was all coincidence:

In August 2011 -- after the e-mails were first discussed at a July 26 congressional hearing -- O’Reilly was named as the senior director of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Programs in Iraq, a State Department position.

The State Department official told CNSNews.com that O’Reilly’s reassignment to Iraq from the White House “was a standard foreign service career rotation that had been planned for months in advance of his detail to the NSS.” The State Department could not confirm O’Reilly’s new title at the State Department.

So, what do Kevin O'Reilly and the survivors of the 9/11/12 attack in Benghazi have in common? All are State Department employees (presumptively); all were somehow connected to operations that involved the murder of American officials; and all are being prevented from speaking to Congressional committees who want and deserve answers.